U.S. patent application number 13/917200 was filed with the patent office on 2013-12-26 for methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing policy and charging rules function (pcrf) with integrated openflow controller.
The applicant listed for this patent is Tekelec, Inc.. Invention is credited to Ajay Padmakar Deo.
Application Number | 20130343295 13/917200 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49758717 |
Filed Date | 2013-12-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130343295 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Deo; Ajay Padmakar |
December 26, 2013 |
METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDING POLICY
AND CHARGING RULES FUNCTION (PCRF) WITH INTEGRATED OPENFLOW
CONTROLLER
Abstract
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems,
and computer readable media for providing a PCRF with an integrated
openflow controller. According to one system, a policy and charging
rules function (PCRF) is configured to determine policies to apply
to network sessions or users. An openflow controller is integrated
with the PCRF and configured to provide instructions to
telecommunications network elements in an openflow protocol to
implement the policies.
Inventors: |
Deo; Ajay Padmakar;
(Carrollton, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Tekelec, Inc. |
Morrisville |
NC |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
49758717 |
Appl. No.: |
13/917200 |
Filed: |
June 13, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61659967 |
Jun 14, 2012 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
370/329 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 15/66 20130101;
H04W 28/16 20130101; H04L 41/0893 20130101; H04L 41/5022 20130101;
H04L 41/0813 20130101; H04W 72/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/329 |
International
Class: |
H04W 28/16 20060101
H04W028/16 |
Claims
1. A system for providing a policy controlling network, the system
comprising: a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) configured
to determine policies to apply to network sessions or users; and an
openflow controller integrated with the PCRF and configured to
provide instructions to telecommunications network elements in an
openflow protocol to implement the policies.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the openflow controller is
configured to provide instructions in the openflow protocol to one
or more of a broadband remote access server/broadband network
gateway (BRAS/BNG), a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN), a packet
data network gateway/server gateway (PDN-GW/S-GW), an evolved node
B (eNode B).
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the openflow controller is
configured to provide instructions in the openflow protocol to one
or more of a Wi-Fi access point, a switch, and a router.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the PCRF includes a non-openflow
interface for providing instructions to at least some of the
telecommunications network elements using a non-openflow
protocol.
5. The system of claim 4 wherein the non-openflow protocol
comprises a Diameter protocol.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the PCRF is configured to
communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) using Diameter.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the PCRF is configured to
communicate with a Diameter signaling router (DSR) using
Diameter.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the PCRF includes a non-openflow
interface for controlling non-openflow devices.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the non-openflow devices include
an online charging system (OCS).
10. The system of claim 8 wherein the non-openflow devices include
a deep packet inspection (DPI) node.
11. The system of claim 1 wherein the openflow controller is
configured to receive an Ethernet frame from broadband remote
access server/broadband network gateway (BRAS/BNG) and determine a
policy to apply to the Ethernet frame.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the openflow controller is
configured to send an openflow add command to the BRAS/BNG to add
an entry to its flow table to implement a policy for frames
associated with the same flow as the received Ethernet frame.
Description
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 61/659,967 filed Jun. 14, 2012; the
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The subject matter described herein relates to enabling
flexible allocation of resources in telecommunications networks.
More particularly, the subject matter described herein relates to a
PCRF with an integrated openflow controller.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In telecommunications networks, global Internet protocol
traffic is increasing at a rate of forty to fifty percent per year.
In order to retain subscribers, it is desirable for service
providers to keep monthly charges to subscribers relatively
unchanged. Keeping charges constant with increasing traffic
requires a reduction in expenses. For example, with a forty percent
increase in traffic, service providers must reduce capital expenses
and operational expenses by forty to fifty percent per gigabyte per
second per year to achieve relatively constant pricing.
[0004] One possible method for reducing capital and operational
expenses is to use software defined networks (SDNs). SDNs can be
used to manage flows, control switches, control network access, and
track user location and motion. SDNs can also be used to
efficiently use network components. For example, SDNs may be used
to power off unused equipment during non-peak periods to conserve
energy.
[0005] Some SDN models centralize the control of network elements,
such as routers and switches, by removing intelligence from the
routers and switches and placing that intelligence in a centralized
location. One such effort to provide centralized control of routers
and switches is the openflow architecture described in the Openflow
Switch Specification, Version 1.1.0, Feb. 28, 2011, the disclosure
of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and a
copy of which is attached hereto. According to the Openflow Switch
Specification, an openflow controller controls functions of
openflow-enabled switches. Openflow has not been used to control
telecommunications network elements. Accordingly, there exists a
need for extending openflow into telecommunications networks to
reduce operating and capital expenses and to make networks more
scalable and more flexible.
SUMMARY
[0006] The subject matter described herein includes methods,
systems, and computer readable media for providing a PCRF with an
integrated openflow controller. According to one system, a policy
and charging rules function (PCRF) is configured to determine
policies to apply to network sessions or users. An openflow
controller is integrated with the PCRF and configured to provide
instructions to telecommunications network elements in an openflow
protocol to implement the policies.
[0007] The subject matter described herein can be implemented in
software in combination with hardware and/or firmware. For example,
the subject matter described herein may be implemented in software
executed by one or more processors. In one exemplary
implementation, the subject matter described herein may be
implemented using a non-transitory computer readable medium having
stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed
by the processor of a computer control the computer to perform
steps. Exemplary computer readable media suitable for implementing
the subject matter described herein include disk memory devices,
chip memory devices, programmable logic devices, and application
specific integrated circuits. In addition, a computer readable
medium that implements the subject matter described herein may be
located on a single device or computing platform or may be
distributed across multiple devices or computing platforms.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Preferred embodiments of the subject matter described herein
will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating a PCRF with an
integrated openflow controller controlling telecommunications
network elements according to an embodiment of the subject matter
described herein;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
architecture for an SDN including an openflow-enabled PCRF
according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein;
and
[0011] FIG. 3 is a message flow diagram illustrating exemplary
messaging for a PCRF to provide policy instructions to
telecommunications network nodes via using an openflow protocol
according to an embodiment of the subject matter described
herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The subject matter described herein includes a PCRF with an
integrated openflow controller. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of
such a PCRF. In FIG. 1 PCRF 100 includes integrated openflow
controller 102. Openflow controller 102 implements the
above-described openflow protocol to control one or more of eNode B
104, BRAS/BNG 106, GGSN or PDN-GW/S-GW 108, a Wi-Fi access point
(not shown) or one or more openflow switches or routers (not
shown). In the illustrated example, PCRF 100 also includes a
non-openflow interface 109 for controlling non-openflow devices,
such as online charging system (OCS) 110 or deep packet inspection
(DPI) node 112. Non-openflow interface 109 may be a Diameter
interface or other suitable interface for communicating with
non-openflow nodes, such as OCS 110 and DPI 112.
[0013] Conventionally, the network in FIG. 1 operated by providing
much of the routing intelligence in nodes 104, 106, and 108. PCRF
100 conventionally controlled such nodes using only a layer 7
protocol, such as Diameter. In the illustrated embodiment, PCRF 100
may include at least some of the same routing intelligence
conventionally contained in nodes 104, 106, and 108 and use
openflow controller 102 to control switching and routing performed
by nodes 104, 106, and 108. Thus, PCRF 100 may control nodes using
the openflow protocol in addition to or instead of a layer 7
protocol, such as Diameter.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
architecture for a software-defined network including PCRF 100 with
integrated openflow controller 102. Referring to FIG. 2, PCRF 100
controls BRAS/BNG 106,
[0015] GGSN 108A, PDN-GW/S-GW 108B, eNode B 104, Wi-Fi access point
114 and openflow switches/routers 116 using openflow. PCRF 100 may
also communicate with DSR 118 and HSS 120 using any suitable
protocol, such as Diameter. PCRF 100 may support various
applications, such as content streaming 122, voice over LTE 124,
rich communications suite (RCS) 126, cloud services 128, and
business applications 130.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary messages
that may be exchanges when a node such as BRAS/BNG 106 is
controlled by PCRF 100 using openflow. Referring to FIG. 3, in line
1, a user element 300 sends an initial Ethernet frame or an IP
packet to the network. BRAS/BNG 106 receives the frame or packet,
performs a lookup in its flow table, and determines that there are
no matching entries. Accordingly, in line 2, BRAS/BNG 106 sends the
frame or packet to PCRF 100 to determine what policy to apply to
the frame or packet and to subsequent frames or packets in the same
flow as the Ethernet frame or IP packet. Openflow controller 102
receives the frame or packet and determines the policy to apply to
the frame or packet. In line 3, openflow controller 102 sends an
openflow add command instructing BRAS/BNG 106 to add an entry to
its flow table to implement a policy for frames associated with the
same flow as the received Ethernet frame. Subsequent Ethernet
frames or IP packets associated with the same flow may be switched
by BRAS/BNG 106 using the entry added to its flow table by openflow
controller 102.
[0017] It will be understood that various details of the presently
disclosed subject matter may be changed without departing from the
scope of the presently disclosed subject matter. Furthermore, the
foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and
not for the purpose of limitation.
* * * * *